Background...

A few years ago (in Marvel time) some of Earth's greatest heroes and villains
were teleported to another world for the entertainment of an omniscient being
known as The Beyonder. He forces them to fight each other in order to leave the
Battleworld planet. To the winning side, he promises to fulfill their dreams.

As one could guess, Doctor Doom is a member of this elite group. Instead of
accepting what's offered, he wants all the Beyonder's power for himself. Doom
manages to steal power from Galactus and challenges the Beyonder directly,
acquiring his powers. This proves to be temporary as no human mind – even one
such as Doom's - can control that kind of power. He ultimately loses his
concentration allowing the power to return to The Beyonder.

In this reality, Doom retains his powers and returns to Earth with an agenda.

At some unspecified point in this alternate future, Doom stands before the
Celestials, ready to fight to the death to keep his god-like powers. As he
stands waiting for the first strike he thinks back to the long road which
brought him here.

His journey started 27 years ago when his mother Cynthia Von Doom bargained
with the Devil to protect her clan from the corrupt Latverian baron. She was
killed in retaliation for using black magic against the baron's soldiers.
Ten-year old Victor discovered this and swore to save his mother's soul at all
costs.

Eleven years later he is in the United States attending Empire State
University. His only goal is to construct a machine that will open a portal
into Hell and save his mother. Due to an unforeseen error, the machine
explodes. This permanently scars Victor's face and causes the university to
revoke his scholarship and his visa. He leaves America in disgrace.

Victor learns of a secret order of monks in Tibet and with no other place to
turn, seeks them out. He studies with them for eight years until he has
mastered all their teachings. It is here that he forges his trademark armor
with additional mystic seals. He renames himself "Doctor Doom" and returns to
Latveria, leading a resistance movement that overthrows King Vladimir. Doom
rises to power as the new monarch of Latveria and brings a degree of order to
the country. However his superior attitude leaves many world leaders concerned
for the future. In the months and years that follow, Doom confronts the
Fantastic Four several times as well as Spider-Man and the X-Men.

He recalls being abducted by The Beyonder to the Battleworld planet despite
his "death" months earlier. He
steals the Beyonder's powers and kills the heroes with a thought. He then
returns to Earth and explains the "Secret War" and how he acquired unlimited
power. He admits that he was responsible for the deaths of the world's abducted
heroes, but glosses over that to describe the utopia he will create for
humanity. He then defeats all remaining pockets of resistance: Wakanda,
Atlantis, The Eternals, Asgard, the Inhumans, and the remaining heroes not
chosen for the Secret War. The list includes Tony Stark, Luke Cage, Iron Fist,
Moon Knight, Hercules, and Daredevil to name a few.

He then sets his sights on galactic conquest. When they refuse to accept his
leadership, Doom destroys the empires of the Kree, Skrull, Shi'ar, Badoon, the
Brood, and others. Once this phase is complete, he collects the infinity gems
(space, time, reality, mind, and soul) preventing anyone from challenging him
for supremacy. He uses the soul gem to free his mother from Hell.

Returning to the present, Doom destroys the Celestials, although by his
admission it took 407 Earth years to accomplish this. Returning to Earth, Doom
sees that the shock waves from his battles have shifted the Earth's orbit,
turning the world into a frozen wasteland where humanity is all but extinct. In
a rare moment of nobility, Doom expends all his remaining power to realign the
Earth's orbit and reignite the core to make it habitable once again.

Once the world has been restored, Doom returns to Earth as a mere mortal and
helps humanity start over.

In General...

The overall story was interesting and had a logical extrapolation of what
Doom might do if he retained the Beyonder's powers. First take control of
Earth, show up Mr. Fantastic by creating a utopia based on his innovations, and
then conquer the remaining inhabited planets.

Unfortunately there were a few items that took away from the story. The
non-linear sequence of events was confusing in parts, especially where the
target history diverged from the original. I had a little trouble keeping the
outer space battles in order.

Another issue was the extensive background for Doom. It seemed unnecessary
as by and large it served no purpose in the story. I believe that a 1 page
abridged history would have covered all the material needed.

Finally the apparent limit to Doom's powers baffled me. True it extended his
life by 400 years, but he had to use all of it to put the Earth back in the
proper orbit and restart the core. This doesn't make sense. I would think
someone with enough power to beat the Celestials (eventually) should be able to
snap their metallic fingers and fix that problem.

Overall Rating...

3.5 webs. Overall it was an interesting read, despite a few problems.
Personally I would have just let Doom keep his god-like powers, avoid the frozen
Earth sub-plot, and let him simply rule the universe. That would have been a
typical ending, but with the direction the story was headed, it would have been
more fitting. Perhaps the final comment could have been along the lines of "I
am master of all that is and ever shall be. Where I should be content, I find
myself empty. Although I always considered myself superior to the rest of
humanity, I find it impossible to rid myself of certain elements. I am
everything and yet I am nothing."

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